Golden: Embracing a tourism brand in MetroWest

The U.S. has launched a new tourism program for visitors from abroad. So what does that mean for MetroWest?

Peter Golden/Columnist

The U.S. has launched a new tourism program for visitors from abroad. So what does that mean for MetroWest?

I have to admit, I’ve never paid much attention to the country singer Rosanne Cash, but with parents like June Carter and Johnny Cash, I’m not sure what kept me from tuning in on Rosanne, who surely is one of America’s greatest country singers.

And now that she’s plugging a new program co-sponsored by our nation’s travel and tourism industry and the U.S. government, I’ll just go ahead and say it right out: “I love the way Rosanne Carter sings “Land of Dreams,” both for the pure joy she conveys in her music and the power of the message contained in the song.

In case you didn’t notice (which stands to reason, because the song is being plugged around the world as a tourism promotion for the U.S.) “Land of Dreams” is the musical “hook” behind a big promotion to get people to take their vacations right here in the good old USA.

But there’s something else going on here that goes beyond the hard sell contained in this beautifully rendered balled, and it’s just so good and powerful, so filled with promise and warm welcome I think every American should know about Cash’s song and what it means for all of us.

First of all, someone finally figured out that it’s time for America to stop crying in its soup, blow it’s recessionary nose and put on a happy face for the rest of the world, and maybe even ourselves. After all, if we’re going to get off our collective duffs and get America back to work I can’t think of a much better way than holding a house party for the world.

No less an authority than Larry Summers, former secretary of the Treasury and an advisor to the Obama administration, has stated publicly that tourism is a fabulous way to help put an economy back on its feet. Tourism creates jobs at little cost, builds business revenues and draws all sorts of wonderful people to our country that have the potential to contribute to the American experience.

Rendered in the form of an international program of advertising and public relations targeted on tourists from Europe, South America and Asia who just might have an interest in our “purple mountains majesty and amber waves of grain,” and formally called “Brand USA,” the program’s public face is contained in the website “DiscoverAmerica.com.”

Think about it: Along with all the excitement and sizzle of cities like New Orleans, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and dare I say, even Boston. Rosanne is extending a warm welcome to everyone, everywhere, who might want to drop in. Add our sea coasts, national parks and inland waterways and we make a pretty cool place to hang out for a few weeks of R&R.

We’ve launched similar programs before, of course, and under conditions every bit as challenging — and then some — as those we face today. Way back in 1893 the city of Chicago pulled off a World’s Fair the likes of which had never been seen before. On a lakefront site now known as Grant Park hundreds of acres were devoted to soaring glass halls, vast floral gardens and parklands, all highlighted by endless numbers of fountains and reflecting pools. To top it all off, a gigantic Ferris wheel gave visitors a bird’s-eye view of the extravaganza.

In the midst of a corrosive depression that plunged the nation into a state of economic paralysis (the railroad bubble that followed the Civil War finally burst), something like one in every five Americans attended the fair, along with hundreds of thousand of visitors from around the world. Chicago assumed global stature on the strength of the event and America began to lift its eyes out of the mire of failure and return to the business of becoming a major power on the world stage.

Think how other countries brand themselves: For Costa Rica, it’s all about eco-tourism. We go to Italy for the food, the ancient ruins, and the incomparable climate. In Britain it’s all about Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the Lake Country.

But here’s a question for you: What about MetroWest? What’s our brand, and how to convey it? Hey, if you could buy a MetroWest refrigerator magnet at Logan airport, what would it have on it? — a picture of the Natick Mall?

Well, you could do worse. People actually come from all over Europe to visit our American Girl store at the mall and the range of luxury stores draws up-scale foreign shoppers with a taste for the finer things.

MetroWest’s new Travel & Visitor Bureau is hard at work branding our area, but there’s a lot to be done before we end up as a location shot the next time Rosanne Cash sings in a new YouTube version of Land of Dreams. Happily, along with our malls, we have signature sports events like the Boston Marathon and Marlborough’s Black Friday Hockey Tournament.

But that hardly constitutes a signature tourism brand like those possessed by Salem, Essex, Plymouth and of course, Boston and its famous Freedom Trail.

It’s time to get cracking, MetroWest! Our local chambers of commerce and many of our downtown merchants’ groups are already on the case, but if we really want to participate in the rising tide of tourism that’s sure to develop in the coming months and years, we need to create our own Land of Dreams.

Peter Golden writes about history and the environment and is active in promoting local tourism initiatives. Contact him at psg@goldenpr.com.

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